evilchiliWhenever it's #EnoTime and I sit down to listen I have the same debate -- Neuroli or Thursday Afternoon? Though very different these two records offer a similar listening experience, as they are both examples of Eno at his most minimalist: both are lengthy pieces organized around simple, repeated musical phrases that float untethered across textured atmospherics. Of the two I prefer Neuroli, which hangs suspended on a fifth for an hour and sounds like I imagine laudanum to feel. But I spent years falling asleep to Thursday Afternoon, no doubt much to the irritation of my brother with whom I shared a bedroom. 😁
But for my third choice this morning I am instead selecting 77 Million Paintings, a 44 minute snapshot of music output by generative compositional software, something Eno had been experimenting with since the 80s. The software contains hundreds of original audio and visual works which are combined randomly to produce an endless, non-repeating experience. You should read up on it because the whole project is bananas and has been projected on the Sydney Opera House and performed live in Second Life of all things.
This version is found on disc 2 of the Music For Installations compilation. It is built on fat, round orchestral chimes and bassy sine waves through which cut vocoder-distorted sung notes and stacked harmonies, scratchy percussive textures reminiscent of Matmos (who were surely raised on Eno), and warbly synth lines that are equal parts electronic bird calls and wind. There are elements here that recall the stretched, distorted piano tones of Thursday Afternoon and the unreal ocean shores of On Land. My son remarked that something he just heard sounded like a seal. It is unhinged, formless, infinite. Love it.
